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In-House Peru
IntroductIOn of MultnnedIa as an
Information Tool for Sexual and
Reproductive Health EducatIOn m
~PAJUES,Luna,Peru
FINAL REPORT
The PopulatIon Councll seeks to nnprove the wellbemg and reproductIve health of current and future generations around the
world and help achieve a humane eqwtable, and sustamable balance between people and resources The CouncIl. analyzes
populatIon Issues and trends - conducts bIOmedical research to develop new contraceptives - works With publlc and
pnvate agencies to Improve the quahty and outreach of famIly plannmg and reproductive health services • helps
governments to mfluence demographic behavIOr - commurucates the results of research m the populatIon field to appropnate
audiences - and helps buIld research capacItIes m developmg countries The CouncIl, a nonprofit, nongovernmental
research orgaruzatIon estabhshed rn 1952 has a multInational Board of Trustees, Its New York headquarters supports a
global network of regIOnal and country offices
This project was funded by the U S Agency for International Development Office of Population, under Contract No CCP-
3030 C-OO-5007-00, Latm Amenca and the Caribbean Operations Research and Techrucal ASSistance rn FamIly Plannmg
and Reproductive Health (INOPAL III) PopulatIOn CouncIl rntemal accountmg code 035204041

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INTRODUCTION OF MULTIMEDIA AS AN INFORMATION TOOL FOR
SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH EDUCATION
IN INPPARES, LIMA, PERU
Ambal Velasquez
INPPARES
Max Tello
Johns Hopkms Umverslty, PCS
Marza Rosa Garale
PopulatIOn Councli/Peru
INOPAL III
IN-HOUSE PROJECT
March 28, 1997 to September 30, 1998 (Internal Accountmg Code 0352 04041)
October 29, 1998

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FINAL REPORT
INTRODUCTION OF MULTIMEDIA AS AN INFORMATIONAL
TOOL FOR SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH EDUCATION
IN INPPARES, LIMA, PERU
CONTENTS
I IntroductIOn 2
II Methodology 2
III Results 3
IV DIScussIon 5

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INTRODUCTION OF MULTIMEDIA AS AN INFORMATIONAL
TOOL FOR SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH EDUCATION
IN INPPARES, LIMA, PERU
I IntroductIon
An Interactive computenzed multimedia system to provIde reproductive health InfOrmatIOn
to clients was tested In the maIn climc of INPPARESI, the IPPF affiliate In Peru, as a collaboratIve
effort between INOPAL III Project of Population CouncIl and Johns HopkIns Umversity/PopulatIOn
Commumcation ServIces from Mar 1997 to Sept 1998 The maIn ObjectIve of this study was to
test the feaSibility of USIng a multimedIa tool to prOVide baSIC InfOrmatIOn on contraceptIOn,
sexualIty, and other reproductive health Issues to vIsitors at a famIly plannIng clImc Other
objectives were to determIne If, In the users VIews, the InteractIve multimedia tool offered
comparative advantages to other means of mformatIOn dehvery, and to determIne what population
acceded to the tool and theIr OpInIOnS ofthe InfOrmatIOn prOVIded
II Methodology...
ThiS was a demonstratIOn project that reqUITed the deSIgn, development, and Introduction of
the Instrument, and evaluatIOn of the entire process SelectIOn of tOpICS was Imtlally based on
tOpiCS used In successful reproductIve health mc efforts In Peru
Table I TopICS and tvpe ofmatenalpresented m the mteractlve proKram ISABEL
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SEX EDUCATION CONTRACEPTION
Why IS It good to plan my famIly? (v) Machismo (v) IUD (t)
What IS reproductIve health? (t) FIrst sexual relatIOn (v) Condom (v)
Male sex organs (a) ConversIng With my famIly (v) Rhythm method (v)
Females sex organs (a) Tubal lIgatIOn (a)
KnOWIng my menstrual cycle (a) Vasectomy (a)
Why IS It Important to breastfeed? (t) Implants (a)
Pregnancy care (a) InJectables (a)
Sexual hygiene (a) Oral contraceptives (v)
What IS Papanicolaou? (t) LactatIonal amenorrhea (v)
What IS conceptIOn? (a) VagInal tablets (a)
AbortIOn (v)
Benefits ofreproductlVe health (v)
v =Video, a = ammated short story, t == text
The program was named "Isabel, your InformatIOn counselor", and was deSigned to operate
In WIndows '95 on a compact diSC of 600 MB The program Includes 10 VIdeos, 11 ammated short
stones, and four Items of text only "Isabel" SOlICItS InformatIOn on age, gender, educatIOnal
level, and dlstnct ofreSidence from users before access IS allowed to the Interactive system, pnntmg
the InfOrmatIOn In an Excel database for later analySIS
Due to the sophisticated nature of the program, all the necessary eqUIpment was not
available In Peru, so was purchased offshore The followmg speCificatIons were used PC IBM-
compatible With PentIUm II MNX 233 mhz, RAM memory 80 MB, super VGA 16 million colors
With 2 MB RAM, Sound Blaster or compatible, hard disk 3 GB, compact diSC dnve 24x velOCity,
and touch-senSitIve screen 17" diagonal
I Instltuto Peruano de Patermdad Responsable
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A local company, VORTEX, was hIred to program "Isabel " and tram INPPARES
personnel m Its use EqUipment was first tested for five weeks m the INPPARES chmc m Lima
WIth final adjustments made Pre-testmg resulted m the declSlon to aSSign a "host(ess)" to offer
onentatIon to chents m use of the eqUipment Presence of a hostess also solved the potentIal
problem of chIldren attemptmg to access the system A second test penod of four months (January-
Apnl 1998) resulted m final adjustments to the eqUipment, the program, and the habituatiOn to Its
use by INPPARES personnel The final verSIon was put mto actIOn from May to Sept 1998 from
Monday through Fnday, 10 a m to 5 pm, and Saturdays, 10 a m to 1 pm
In order to evaluate the multimedia tool, a bnef survey was apphed to all chents consultmg
the system on 13 days between July and August A total of 232 persons were surveyed on their
opmIOns of the tool and level of satIsfactIOn WIth it, mcludmg acceptance and usefulness of the
servIce and of the mformatIOn provIded, preference for "Isabel "or the traditIOnal face-to-face
counselmg, and suggestIOns to Improve the system Surveyed users were not dIfferent from all
system users on the charactenstlcs of age and educatIOn
III Results
Dunng 539 hours of pubhc exposure, 670 chents accessed the multImedia tool for a total of
1,712 consultatIOns Women compnsed the majonty (67%) of system users The average number
of consultatIOns was not dIfferent by sex System users were generally young adults ages 20-30,
With only 7% over age 40 (13% male and 4% female) HIgh educatIOnal attamment was
charactenstIc ofusers 84% had more than a hIgh school educatIOn
Ofthe three general themes avaIlable for consultatIOn, "ReproductIve Health" was the most
frequently VISIted (41%), perhaps due to havmg the greatest number of tOpiCS to choose from
Three of the five most frequently ViSited tOpICS were wlthm the theme of "Sex Education", all of
whIch were VIdeos, a charactenstic that is perhaps the greatest attractIOn ofthe system
Table II Ten tomcs most requentlv consulted
TOPIC CONSULTED Frequency 0/0
Benefits offarmly plannmg 142 25
Frrst sexual relatiOn 112 20
MachIsmo 110 19
Hygiene 103 18
Abortion preventiOn 103 18
TOTAL 570 100
Acceptance The opimon survey showed that 96% ofusers hked It Reasons given were
• It motivates and stImulates mterest m the user due to ItS attractive appearance
• It is a novel way ofoffenng mformatIOn on these tOpiCS
• The mformatIon is Important to know
• It is easy to understand, and facihtates leammg
• Many other reasons, espeCially that It is free and saves tIme
The 4% who did not like the system opmed that it dId not satiSfy their expectatIOns for mformatIon,
and that it lacked pnvacy (refernng to the locatIon ofthe multImedIa tool)
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Usefulness Seventy-three percent ofusers thought "Isabel "was useful SpecIfically that It
• PermIts access to new mformatIOn
• DIspels doubts
• Offers clear and SImple mformatIOn
• Has good and necessary mformatlon and messages
• AVOIds the embarrassment ofdlscussmg wIth provIders
• EconOIlllcal, smce It IS a free alternative to paId consultations
• AcceSSIble, smce ItS use IS not restrIcted
• Teaches and helps
About 24% of users thought the system was only partially useful, smce It needed "more tOpICS
and more m-depth mformatlon on the tOPICS already mcluded" Others mentIOned, for example,
that one couldn't "re-ask the machme" (greater mteractlveness) or that a person should be avaIlable
to adVIse on use ofthe system (a factor external to the system) A mmlmal 3% of users conSIdered
the system as havmg httle or no usefulness
Preferred mformatIOn source For 57% of surveyed system users, "Isabel "was eaSIer to
consult than a tradItIOnal prOVIder or counselor Most reasons referred to the rapIdIty and
tImehness of gettlllg mformatIon from the program, the sImphclty and ease, and the posslblhty of
"not feelmg shamed" ("the machme does not reproach") Another 38% of users preferred
tradItIOnal counsehng, smce "mformatIOn IS more complete", and questIOns or doubts can be
answered For some, counselmg prOVIdes greater pnvacy, smce many people can observe what IS
bemg shown on the multimedia tool, and others like the personalized treatment and conSIder the
machme "cold" Fmally, 5% had no preference for eIther one or the other method of obtammg
mformatIOn
SuggestIons for changes or Improvements Forty percent (136) of those surveyed made
recommendatIOns for changes to the multImedia tool Several recommendatIOns can be grouped
to suggest the need to change the locatIOn of the machme m order to reduce ambIent nOIse and
prOVIde more pnvacy so others cannot see the tOpIC bemg consulted
Table III SUKKestlOnsfor ImDrOVlnK the mulnmedIa servICe
SUGGESTIONS (n=136) %
Improve the audIO 40
ProVIde more detaIled mformatlOn 38
PrOVIde more pnvacy 32
Increase number oftOpICS 32
Change location ofmachme 15
Other SUggestIOns 20
Note Column percentages add to more than 100 smce respondents
could gIve more than one response
Two of the suggestIOns referred to content of the servIce desrre for more detaIled
mformatlOn and more dIfferent tOpICS In regard to detaIled mformatIOn, most frequently the term
"conceptIOn" was cntlclzed as too ambIguous and general New tOpICS suggested were led m
frequency by sexually transmItted dIseases Other comments suggested mcludmg the capabIlIty of
mterrogatmg "Isabel "and gIvmg better mstructIOns on ItS use
Most ofthese suggestions resulted from the process of adaptmg the system to regular clImc
use For example, clImc receptIOmsts were contmually mterrupted by the sound of VOIces m the
multimedIa machme, espeCially when many clIents hned up to use the system ThIS resulted m the
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staff lowermg the machme volumn and thus losmg the good audiO InstructIons regardmg use were
not clear to users, especIally when a "help" screen appeared that, mstead of bemg recogmzed as a
"tutor" to practIce usmg the screen, was consIdered a sIgn of bemg moperatIve WhICh discouraged
further use
Use of "Isabel "en la Ferta del Hogar (Household Fair)
Another opportumty to test the multImedIa system was prOVIded by the MImstry of Health
and ItS Program for ReproductIve Health and Family Plannmg which m July and August of every
year reserves a booth at the CIty-Wide Ferza del Hogar "Isabel" was exposed to the pubhc for
14 days, approxImately 10 hours a day, accumulatmg a total of 2,454 VISIts or 18 consultatiOns per
hour, meanmg that there was full utIhzatiOn of tIme avaIlable The populatiOn of "Isabel " users
at the faIr, as compared to that ofthe INPPARES chmc, was sIgmficandy younger (many under age
13 and adolescents under age 19, together compnsmg more than one thIrd of users) and lower
educatIonal achIevement (39% had no more than secondary educatIon)
TOPICS consulted at the Ferza del Hogar were SImIlar to those consulted m INPPARES,
WIth the exceptIon§.. that contraceptIve mformatiOn was hIghly solICIted at the faIr Women were
most hkely to seek mformatiOn on the contraceptIves Norplant and mJectables Men consulted
mamly on vasectomy and tubal hgation Both women and men comcided WIth theIr pnncipal
chOIces OftOpics as "benefits ofreproductIve health" and "machIsmo" Least solICIted tOPICS were
"abortIOn preventiOn", "male organs", and "lactatIonal amenorrhea"
IV DISCUSSion
The use of multImedIa as a tool to prOVIde mformatIOn was demonstrated to have a hIgh
level of acceptance m the populatIons to whIch It was exposed Age groups of both genders
between 10 and 30 years ofage were especially lIkely to use the tool A notable decrease m mterest
was noted among the populatIon over age 40 It IS pOSSIble that thIS age group IS self-elImmatmg
for fear ofmampulatmg eqUIpment to WhICh they perhaps have had httle or no preVIOUS access
Users mamfested that "Isabel" IS an excellent way to obtam mformatIOn m pnvate,
aVOIdmg pOSSIble recnmmatory remarks from the counselor However, there is also consensus
among that It is not a replacement for traditIonal counsehng, which should be available m
connectIon WIth the machme m order to prOVide more m-depth mformation when necessary The
tnal showed that the multImedia tool can offer mformatiOn m non-pnvate SItuatiOns On the other
hand, more mtimate tOpiCS could be offered, for example on STDs or sexual relatiOns, if a more
pnvate location could be utIhzed
Greater effiCiency m use of the tool was found when the tool was located m a pubhc place
With maSSive concurrence (the fair), where it IS utihzed to its maximum capaCity Therefore, itS
cost-effectiveness would be greater m places such as the mam entrances to publIc hospItals,
umversitIes, and public or pnvate hIgh schools For the latter, it would be pOSSIble to economize
by usmg a "mouse" mstead ofthe very costly touch-senSitive screen
Success of the system IS asSOCiated WIth its novelty TopiCS need to be changed from tIme
to tIme to mamtam high levels ofmterest
There is eVidence that users of the system respond truthfully to the sohcitatiOn of
mformatiOn, smce anommity IS garanteed It may be pOSSible, therefore, to utthze the tool to obtam
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mformatlOn on sensItive tOPICS (STDs, lllV-AIDS, sexual practices) that IS dIfficult to obtam by
other methods
Results on tOPICS most frequently consulted make It pOSSIble to observe the tendency m
need for mformatlOn ofthe populatIon
The evaluatIOn allowed detectiOn of several problems In the proper functiOnIng of the
system and the delIvery of mformatiOn Under the latter cntena, the last verSiOn of"Isabel "was
corrected by modlfymg access to the contraceptiOn module, WhICh appeared WIth restrIctIons to the
full range of mformatIon when the user was asked about hls/her reproductive mtentIons CopIes of
the latest verSiOn will be distrIbuted among CooperatIng AgenCies and the National Reproductive
Health Program
ThIS first attempt to use a multImedia tool as an educational tool has stImulated much
expectatIon and opportumtles to contmue testmg content matenal that wIll cover the educatIOnal
needs ofa segment ofthe populatIOn
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